How Big Are Bed Bugs?
The common myth of bed bugs is that most people think that these critters cannot be seen. But in truth, bed bugs can be seen. However, they are a lot harder to be seen during their early stages.
If you have been bitten or think that you have been bitten because of the visible bed bugs bite marks on your body, it only means the bed bugs had a blood meal. This is a factor that makes it easier to see.
They are about half the size of an apple seed and can be up to the size of an apple seed once it gets a full blood meal. The stage when they are harder to see is at the early stages of life where they are a lot smaller and are almost translucent or transparent. It is the stage when you want to carefully look for them.
As they undergo a complete life cycle, their size also changes as they go through each stage. Eggs are much smaller, and they grow bigger as soon as they hatch and get blood meals.
How Big Are Bed Bug Eggs?
When it comes to eggs, they are much harder to find one by one, but fortunately, they are hidden by adults in clusters. One egg is almost the size of a pinhead or about .5 to 1mm and has a pearl white colour.
They are typically hatched in areas where bed bugs hide. At times, they are hidden in hard to reach areas and are not easily found. They can be hidden in cracks and crevices as these are common spots where they are laid.
Since these are small, using common treatments like chemicals may not easily kill them. The use of heat treatment is highly recommended as it not only kills the adults but even the eggs that are hidden.
How Big Are Baby Bed Bugs?
Once hatched, the next question that you may ask is how big are bed bug larvae? Baby bed bugs are nymphs go through 5 stages before they reach adulthood.
Their appearance changes every time they have a meal. As they start the nymphal stage, they are still almost the size of a pinhead or about 1.5mm and have transparent bodies. They only gain colour after every meal. It would be impossible for you to see them before they get a blood meal.
As they enter the second stage, they would become 2mm in size and grow to 2.5mm as they reach the 3rd stage. With continuous feeding, they will grow to 3mm as they reach the 4th stage and then 4.5mm in the 5th stage.
With every stage, they need to get a full blood meal every time to moult and enter a new phase. Each time they moult, they will leave their old body casings. Therefore, you will find shell-like pieces along with eggs and adults once you find a spot where these hugs are hiding.
Getting more bed bug bites only means that the bugs in your home are continuously feeding off you and the infestation is getting worse. Approximately, it would take around 6 weeks for these nymphs to finish the moulting period and reach their adult sizes.
Fecal spots on your mattress or box spring are signs that bed bugs are feeding off you. This is proof that they are digesting every blood meal they had from you and are slowly moulting into their next stage of life.
After a few weeks, these adults will start mating and lay eggs. The cycle continues as long as you do not address the bed bug infestations happening in your home.
How Big Are Adult Bed Bugs?
The average size of an adult bed bug is ranging from ¼ to 3/16 of an inch long. With a length of 5 to 7mm, it is possible to see these critters with the human eye.
Among the main problems when searching for these critters in your home is that these cryptic and nocturnal. This prevents you from detecting them easily. They feed off you when asleep so pest control experts may be the only ones that can help you detect them.
Allergic reaction to bites is also common especially when there are still maturing nymphs that need constant feeding to grow. In detecting these bugs, you should check your mattress seams, entire bed frame and everything that is near your bed.
Since they are attracted to your body heat and carbon dioxide when sleeping, they are most likely hiding in areas near your bed. This allows them to easily reach you and get a blood meal.
As they reach this stage, their colour will become reddish-brown. This makes the adults easier to see especially against the white sheet. If the infestation is also worst than expected, heavily infested areas will include not only adults but also baby nymphs, eggs, and casings.
They will look like a carpet beetle or other insects of the same size. Therefore, knowing how a bed bug looks like and its average size will give you an idea of what you are looking for inside your home. Be careful in identifying bed bugs with other insects as you mistook them for insects that look the same when fully fed.
When you figure out that the infestation is impossible to control, it is highly advisable that you immediately contact pest managers to handle the treatment for you.
